Channeling machine



' May 17, 1932. J. l. HAYs CHANNELING MACHINE Filed March l2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l Summer cfoaep/z 19/gd May 17, 1932- J. a. HAYs CHANNEMNG Mmmm:

Filed March 12. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 'lnventor Jroe 2z I. .Ha w

liteiteuted ay 17,1932

JOSEIEH I. HAYS, OF JACKSON', TENNESSEE GHANNELIN G vIISL'IAGIEZIIN'E Application led March 12, 1931. Serial No. 522,085.

This invention relates lto machines for use in preparing the subgrade of a roadwhich is toreceive a foundation or base on which'cencrete, asphalt,

rial is laid. in preparing the tofore it has been necessary to employ anumber of shovels, mules, Scrapers, wagons, tracks and other machines, as well as 'a-large l@ number of laborers. Hence, the preparation of the roadbed formed a major portion of the expense involved in building the road. Cutting machines have been built having the purpose of cutting down the roadbed to the proper level and carrying ofi' the dirt, etc., to the side of the road. Such prior machines, however, have not proved satisfactory for the reason that they have not been suihcientflexible to meet the varying conditions encountered in roadbed construction, and required that a considerable amount of time and labor be employed in supplementing the work of the machine before the subgrade was 'placed in condition to receive the foundation 5 material, etc.

@ne of the objects of the present invention resides in the provision of a single machine having suihciently flexible controls and adjustments to permit it in one operation to out 30 the roadbed down to the level determined by the road engineers, regardless of whether the roadbed to be prepared is to be horizontal or inclined, curved or straight. j

Another object fof the invention consists 35 in the provision of guiding mechanism on the machine which will cooperate the strings and stakes positioned by the surveyors, so as' to indicate the proper adjustments to be made to the machine as it travels along its course.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a cutter drum in combination with a receiver for the dirt, etc., the cutter traveling at aconstant rate of speed les.

such that the dirt will always be thrown into r Vthe receiver.

@ther objects and advantages ofthe invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in vconnection with the accompanying drawings; in which U9 Figure 1 is a perspective View of the foror other road surfacing mate'e subgrade of a road heredit vchannel iron and mounted on cater illars 2.

These caterpillars may be driven rom any suitable source of power as by sprocket chains.

Mounted on a base plate 4 at the front end @f5 of the machine are lugs 5 on which are pivotally mounted arms 6. These arms, which are spaced laterally of the machine and eX- tend forwardly of the front end thereof, form spaced supports for a drum 7. rlhis 70 drum is preferably composed of three sepate cylinders 8, 9 and 10 keyed to a shaft Also keyed to shaft 11 are two sprocket wheels 12 which mesh with chains 13 driven 75 from sprocket wheels 14 mounted on the forward end of the base plate el. The sprocket wheels. 14 are driven by means of sprocket chains 15 which are in turn driven bysprocket wheels '16, the latter wheels receiving their power from` a sprocket chain 17 having a cop-` nection with a source of power for driving the caterpillars.

The sprocket chains 13 for 'driving the drum 7 preferably have their upper and lower runs spaced apartasubstantial distance and for this purpose idler gears 18 and 19 are provided; the former being mounted on the arms 6 and the latter on the bottom of a box or receiver 20. This receiver is secured to the arms 6 and is adapted to be raised and lowered 'as the latter are raised and lowered in the manner to 'be described.

Mounted on the drum? are aplurality ofcut ting teeth 21 which areprovided with oppositely disposed cutting edges as indicated in F' ure 2, and are therefore reversible to provide anew edge when one of the edges'becomes worn. These blades 21 are mounted on brackets 22, as by means of bolts 23 which permit blade at a time will be brought into contact with the surface being operated upon, and hence the placing of an undue load on a drum is avoided.

Dirt, stone, or the like, excavated by the /rotating drum 7 is carried part way around 40. carries the material laterally of the machine the drum and is then projected into the upper end of the open receiver 20. In this connection it is to be noted that ifthe drum rotates too fast the material carried by the teeth 21 will not be released, but will be continuously carried around as the drum rotates; and if the drum rotates too slowly the material instead of being projected'into the open top of the receiver will fall through the space between the drum and the receiver and be deposited on the road. It has been found that by rotating the drum at a constant speed of about forty-two revolutions per minute, the separate masses of earth carried by the teeth will each be projected thereby into the open upper end of the receiver when the tooth is approaching the receiver in its rearward movement.

The material deposited in the receiver 20 is being continuously removed therefrom by means of a conveyor 23 driven by any suitable power means. The conveyer raises the material and deposits it in a chute 24 from which it descends to a conveyer belt 25 which where it may be deposited on the side of the road or in trucks, or the like, if the material is to be removed from the base of operation.

In the surveying and laying out of roads it is usual to drive stakes and attach a cord at the proper points in the length of the several stakes so as to indicate the depth to which the roadbed is to be cutdown to provide the desired subgradc. In the use of this machine advantage is taken of these cords to furnish the necessary guiding means 'for the cutting machine. The cords are indicated in Figures 1 and 3 by numerals 30, and it will be noted that on each end of the shaft 'l1 of the drum 7 is a loosely mounted collar 31 to which is secured a resilient guide finger 32 adapted to extend axially of the drum land overhang the cords 30. The collar 3l is preferably provided with a weight 33 which serves to maintain the collar in a position shownin Figure 1 with the linger 32 in its uppermost position.

In order that the drum 7 may be bodily raised or lowered to provide the desired depth of out as indicated by the guide cords 30, and

in order to raise one end of the drum and lower the other, or vice versa, as may be neccssary to follow the course of the cords 30, as when providing a bank or the like on a curve, chains or ropes 34 are provided. The ropes 3i each have one end secured to the axle of guide pulleys 35 and extend downwardly and around pulleys 36 mounted on the arms 6, and are then passed upwardly around the pulleys 35 over guide pulleys 3T and extend downwardly to winding drums 38. These drums may be operated by any suitable means, but in the present embodiment of the invention worm wheels 39 are provided which are operated by worms 40 driven by hand crank 41.

As already stated, two of these control mechanisms are provided for the two arms 6, and it is highly desirable that two operators be stationed on the machine for operating these control mechanisms; seats 42 being provided for this purpose. lVhen the operators are stationed at the desired positions they can readily observe the position of the guide tinger 32 with respect to the cords 30, and by turning the cranks 41 in the proper direction will independently raise or lower the arms 6 and consequently raise or lower the respective ends of the drums 7 so as to cause the desired dept-h of cut as the machine travels along its course.

Supplemental cutting means are provided to assist the drum 7 and such means is indicated by the numeral 43. 'lhis means consists of a single blade which extends the entire width of the machine and is mounted on a fixed bracket 4A preferably secured to the underside of the receiver 20. It will be understood, of course, that this blade 43 is not an essential part of the invention, but is merely an auxiliary cutter adapted to smooth out any part of the subgrade which may be left in an uneven condition by the the cutting drum.

In the operation of the device the cords 30 having been properly positioned to indicate the proper depth of the snbgrade, the machine is started and the drum 7 caused to rotate at a constant 'speed of about forty-two revolutions per minute. Forward movement is then imparted to the mechanism by the caterpillars 2 and the operators, stationed at the positions 42, will constantly observe the position of the fingers 32 with respect to the cords 30 and operate the control mechanisms 41 so as to bodily raise or lower the drum or cant upwardly or ydownwardly the respectiveends thereof, so as to provide a cut which will form the exact subgrade as laid out by the surveyors and indicated by the cords 30. In this connection it will be understood that in the event that the caterpillars should encounter a soft spot in the roadbed and thus allow the frame of the niachine to lower, the operators will immediately in response to the movement of the iinblades of pair; and that the drum is rotated at a v'con- 'cluding a frame", acutting 4drum mounted onv .ger 32,-raisethe drum by means of the mech- .i

anism 41 so as to prevent too deep a cnt being made inthe road surface. `In this operation of the machine the blades 21 will pick up porv tions of the earth cut by their cutting edges and carr f the saine upwardly and rearwardly and eposit it in the receiver 20, from lwhence it is carried upwardly by the conveyer 23 and deposited on the laterally extending belt 25 to be transported'to the side of the road, or to a truck as. may bedesired. From the foregoing description taken in f connection with the accompanying drawings,`v it Will be apparent to those, skilled inthe arti;

that I have provided a channeling machine especially designed for use in thecuttingo'f subgrades, vWhich is'highly iieXibl'e in operation so as to perform at one operation the various steps heretofore perforirnedl v"by shovels, Scrapers, Wagons, trucks, etc.; that] it may be readily manipulated solas to pro-ff duce the desired subgrade both as to depth and elevation (as when forming a curve) that the' teeth of the drumy are so spaced as to prevent the application of van undue'load on .l

the apparatus; that the teeth are reversible'f so as to increase their' length of usefulness,. f'

and readily detachable for they purpose of-re stant speed `so :as to` deposit the cut material in the receiver'` at all times. v

In accordancewith the patent statutes I have described What I now believe to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, but I inasmuch as fmrious minor changes may be made in the details of .the construction without departing` from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that. all such changes be included Within the scope of -hc appended claims.

WhatI claim is: Y

l. A channeling machine for roadbeds including a rotatable cutting drum, independent means for supporting eachy end of the drum, means for independently raising or lowering' either of said drum supporting means, and guiding means on each end of u said drum. x

2. A channeling machine for roadbedslin.- cluding a rotatable cutting drum `arranged horizontally, means for independently raising or loweringrthe 'opposite ends of said drum, aguide iingerlon each end of the drum, ,55" .and guide cords* disposedffonr opposite `sides jj lingers.

of the' roadhed for cooperation with the guide 3. A for'roadbedsiin-v the frame, meansonthe frame for rotating the drum,.meansffor independently raising "or lowering either end of the drum, and rep silient guide fingers on each end of the drum. l

JOSEPH I. HAYS. 

